Friday, September 26, 2008

Loin du VietnamWhen I was quite young I shared a T bar with a captain on leave from the war. If he would extend his tour of duty, his government would fly him anywhere in the world. He had skied in the US, but wondered what ski-ing in the Alps of Switzerland would be like. He was my age and too young to appreciate what his death might mean to those that loved him, or even access his chances in a real way. I used to think that the heaviest load for the survivors would be the consciousness of having killed so many. Alas, patriotism and notions of valour and bravery often mask that consciousness from the killers. What that war produced was a whole generation of wounded souls. Will the present "engagements" do the same?